Arthur J. Henriksen

Arthur J. Henriksen, 94, Pocatello, passed away, April 17, 2018 at a local hospital following an illness. Arthur was born on October 9th, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York, to Ruth Ericsson and Arthur Lars Henriksen.
As a child, he attended public school 101. He and his brother played in the streets of Brooklyn and learned how to quickly retrieve balls from the Hudson River.
As a teen, he lived in Newton, Massachusetts and attended Newton High School. He later attended Pratt Institute in New York City. He completed his degree as a Chemical Engineer at Cornell University under the auspices of the US Navy.
In World War II, as an ensign, he worked in the boiler room on a transport ship in the South Pacific. After the War, he began work for FMC that finalized 40 years later when he retired from FMC in 1989, in Pocatello.
He met Caryl Welbourn at Alta Ski Resort where she was taking a vacation from work as an x-ray technician. They skied the slopes en toto. They were married on June 8, 1957.
In 1967 he was in the position of leader of the Pebble Creek Ski School, Pocatello, when he had a heart attack. He was told he would never ski again. He made a complete recovery and transferred his resources to Pebble Creek and Targhee Ski Schools, where he taught skiing until 2000. That same year, he had heart surgery. He again made a complete recovery and continued skiing freely with friends at various ski resorts. Despite learning the surgery would lend 10 years to his life, it lent 17.
The boy from Brooklyn made the west his own, when each summer for three weeks, his family camped on the shore of Red Fish Lake, where he sailed on the lake in the heart of Idaho's Sawtooth wilderness.
He was a natural born Engineer and when retired, he constructed two huge diversions for irrigation water.
He loved steam engine trains and watching the course of trains in the valley and various railside constructions in process
He is survived by his wife and three children: Kim Henriksen, Pocatello; Lars Henriksen, Pocatello; Jan Henriksen, Kino Bay, Sonora, Mexico; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by: a brother, John Henriksen; and a sister, Joan Bull.
The valiant means by which Art met life's vicissitudes, completely overcoming them and flouting expectations to regain his same previous quality of life, is a lesson that through the years has instructed and buoyed up his family.
Military rites and memorial service will be held Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 2pm in the Cornelison Funeral Home, 431 N. 15th Ave., Pocatello. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.cornelisonfh.com
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